30. Cal
Cal
T he city building inspector’s offices are bustling with activity as we make our way to the counter.
It’s late morning after the longest night I’ve had on shift in a while.
As soon as I was released from the ER with instructions to go home and rest, I made Jules drive us directly to the inspector’s office.
“Cal, we can do this later,” she mumbles from beside me.
I pin her with a look that tells her to zip it, much like the looks she gave me back at the hospital when she righted my world just by showing up.
“We’re gonna find out the next steps,” I declare.
An elderly woman sporting a vibrant patchwork sweater, even though it’s hot as hell in the office, mans the front desk. I ask for the dweeb who did her inspection and wait by Jules’s side.
“I know you.” The lady gives us the once-over. “You’re the one who was in Maggie’s booth at the festival.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jules replies with a smile. “We’re here to check out why my CO was denied. The inspector said the paperwork wasn’t filed properly. We need to confirm that we’ve done the proper permits and see how the situation can be rectified.”
“Okay, I’ll let him know you’re here.”
I trace my thumb over the back of her hand—I especially love the soft skin there—as we wait. I haven’t let go of her except to remove the IV line so I could be released.
A half hour later, the dweeb still hasn’t come out to meet with us, and instead, we are forced to make an appointment to return later in the week.
Resigned to another interminable wait, I drop Jules off at her car and make my way over to Nancy’s. Charlie should be waking from her afternoon nap soon, and I just want to see my girl.
So much went through my mind when I thought I was truly injured.
So much about what would happen to Charlie in the event that something happened to me.
Would she go to the state? Would Dani take her back?
And given her past actions, did I truly trust Dani to take care of this little girl who’s become my whole world?
On impulse, I dial Dani’s number, fully prepared to leave her a voicemail.
“Hey, Cal.” She picks up on the third ring. “I was just getting ready to call you. I’m about an hour out from Senoma. Are you at home?”
My blood turns to ice.
There’s no way she’s coming back for Charlie fresh out of jail. But what if she is? Instead of blurting that out loud, I say, “Not yet. I’m just getting Charlie from day care.”
Dani speaks, but I’m not sure what she says before the line falls dead. The second she announced that she was near, my mind kicked into overdrive. What does she want? Why now?
I’m torn on what to do. Let her into my place or make her meet me somewhere public. Hide Charlie at Jules’s apartment or allow Dani to see her.
Then I remember that Jules had a meeting with Lissette, so she’s out. I pull up Chief Collins’s contact info and natch, he answers on the first ring.
“Cal, how are you? I heard about your accident. I was going to come by and see you later.”
“Not great, Chief. I need some help.”
“Talk to me.”
“My sister is on her way to Senoma. She’s fresh out of jail, and she’s headed to my apartment.
” The words tumble out. “I’m not sure why she’s coming now, when she’s been ignoring me since she ditched Charlie.
But now, all of a sudden, I don’t bail her out, and she’s on her way? Something doesn’t jive.”
“How’d she make bail?”
“I have no idea.” I’m not sure I want to know what deal she made, nor the devil she made it with.
“But I’m terrified that she’s coming to take Charlie back with her.
Or what if she wants to stay with me now?
I’m mad as hell at her, but I don’t want to say something to ruin things and make her take Charlie if she’s ready to turn her life around.
” I pause in my tirade, then add the truth through a tight throat. “I don’t want to fuck this up, Chief.”
“We’re on the way.”
A wave of something I don’t understand and haven’t had that much experience with slams into my chest. An intense relief at being able to call on someone and have them support me without question is new and foreign. But Chief and his wife have been there for me in ways I’ll never be able to repay.
I’m not sure what they can do, but having someone on my side feels like the smart thing to do right now.
I beat Dani to the apartment and hustle Charlie inside. She’s playing happily in her baby kennel when a knock raps at the door.
Every step I take to open it to my sister—it has to be her, because Chief Collins hasn’t had time to get here yet—feels like walking through molasses. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to see her.
But I do want her to see how happy and settled Charlie is.
I look back at the little girl who has both grounded me and turned my life upside down.
She’s playing happily with the baby dolls that I bought for her.
Her little pigtails that I brushed, and the bows I put in her hair that match the dress I picked out for her in order to impress my sister with how well I’m taking care of her daughter.
She’s a chubby and happy baby, babbling incessantly to her toys.
My heart lurches.
I don’t want this to be over. I don’t want Dani to take her away, and yet I know I have no rights by law to keep her.
But I can damn sure fight for her.
The knock sounds again. Ominous and foreboding.
I brace myself and open the door.
The woman looking back at me looks nothing like the girl I remember.
Her beautiful, silky blond hair is ashen and greasy.
The makeup that she used to painstakingly practice for hours via YouTube tutorials is nonexistent.
Her clothes are ragged and stained and hang off of her.
Through the threadbare neckline, I see her collarbones standing out in stark contrast under the pale skin of her shoulders .
“Dani.” I’m otherwise speechless.
I hesitate for too long.
“Well? You gonna stand there gawking at me, or you gonna let me in?”
She still sounds like a freaking entitled teenager.
I step back and wave her in. Her eyes immediately go to Charlie, and her shoulders relax.
She takes a step toward her, but I stop her with a hand to the elbow.
“Give us a minute, yeah? Let’s talk while she’s happy and distracted.”
The very last thing I want to witness is Charlie opening her arms to this woman who abandoned her. But I know it’s coming, and I know it’s going to hurt.
Dani takes a longing look over her shoulder at her little girl but follows me into the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” I don’t go for patient or soft or caring or any of the things Dani is used to from me. I cut right to the chase.
A flash of pain crosses her face before she rights her attitude.
“I came to get my daughter.” Her words are clipped and full of sass. I’m shaking my head before she even stops talking.
“Drop the attitude. You’re the one who left her here—alone, I might add. I think it’s time you start from the beginning and tell me everything. You owe me that much. You owe Charlie that much.”
She hitches a hip onto a stool at the island, pinching her lower lip between her fingers, obviously weighing how much she wants to tell me.
“Start with why you felt like she needed to be here. End with how you went to jail and then got out.” I turn away and grab a glass of water, then push it to her.
She takes a sip, studying the contents of the glass. “I just needed a break.”
“From your kid?” I can’t temper the disbelief in my tone. My god, if she doesn’t sound just like our mom.
“It’s a lot to try to raise a kid. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. I just wanted to take a little time and let my hair down. No responsibilities. You know?”
Is she serious right now? Like she doesn’t comprehend how she completely derailed my life with her actions. I can’t fathom words to speak.
So I don’t. Instead, I motion for her to continue.
“Anyway, Ritchie and I got back together, or I thought we did. Come to find out, he was still cheating. Only, I didn’t know about it until the night of the raid. Do you have any food? I’m starving.”
She does look like she needs to eat. She’s skin and bones. So, just like I did when she was little, I pull out a carton of eggs and cheese and start making her favorite breakfast.
While I scramble her up a meal, she fills me in on all the things she’s been doing over the last month. Which is mostly partying and getting wasted.
No mention of work. No mention of taking care of herself.
But the more she talks, the more she returns to the sister I knew before all this happened. And it takes some of the fire out of my fight and leaves me feeling less angry and more protective.
I slide the perfectly fluffy eggs that she loves in front of her. “Danielle. Where have you been?”
She pauses mid-mouthful. “I just told you. ”
“No, where have you been living? Are you working? What are you doing with your days?” Somehow, this is what’s most important to me in this moment.
“Oh, I was living between Ritchie’s place and home. And Ritchie told me he didn’t want me to work. Wanted me available for quality time.”
I squeeze my eyes shut . Jesus.
“Are you pregnant?” I ask, afraid of the answer.
“Nah. I got my period while I was in jail. Good thing too. Coz once I got out, I went straight home for a shower. Found him in bed. With mom ,” she says incredulously, eyes wide like she can’t believe things played out like they did.
Then, in true Dani fashion, she shrugs and resumes her story.
“She threw me out, but I would’ve left anyway.
Because no way am I going back to that loser. Gross.”
There’s a lot to unpack in what she’s just told me, and I’m having trouble processing all that she’s said, except for one thing. “You’re not going back?”
She shovels the last bite of food in her mouth and pushes the plate away. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do next.”
“Do you have a place to stay?” That protective-older-brother side of me barrels back to life.